City of Flint, Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance Named Winners of RACER’s Edge Awards

Awards are for Community Partnership in the Marketing and Promotion of the former Buick City Auto Manufacturing Property in Flint, Mich.

DETROIT — RACER Trust today announced the selection of the City of Flint and the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance for 2023 RACER’s Edge Awards, in recognition of their support in the successful marketing of the former General Motors Buick City property in Flint, Mich.

Elliott P. Laws, of EPLET, LLC, administrative trustee of RACER Trust, presented the awards Tuesday to Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley and Tyler Rossmaessler, executive director of the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, during a ceremony at Huntington Place, host of the 2023 National Brownfields Training Conference.

Mayor Sheldon Neeley speaking after accepting a RACER’s Edge Award.

The city and the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance were instrumental in attracting Ashley Capital, an experienced and successful developer of industrial properties, to pledge a $300 million investment to redevelop the Buick City property into the Flint Commerce Center. When completed, the Flint Commerce Center is expected to create as many as 3,000 jobs.

“Companies consider many factors when evaluating investment opportunities, including the engagement and support of local elected officials and economic development organizations, and there’s no question the enthusiastic support of Mayor Neeley and of the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance were beneficial in achieving a great outcome,” Mr. Laws said. “Throughout the process, Mayor Neeley, Tyler and his team worked hard to ensure that stakeholders in the community and in Lansing understood and supported this investment. We are deeply appreciative of their work.”

Tyler Rossmaessler speaking after accepting a RACER’s Edge Award.

“Ashley Capital’s redevelopment of Buick City is a gamechanger for Flint,” Mayor Neeley said. “This historic investment in Flint’s north side represents a promise made and a promise kept to bring renewed economic development and opportunity for Flint families. This work is only possible through partnerships, and I want to thank RACER Trust and the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance for their collaborative effort to put Flint on an exciting growth trajectory.”

“The Flint Commerce Center will play an important role in Flint’s revitalization and future,” Mr. Rossmaessler said. “We are honored to be part of this project and are excited to see this site return to a productive use, providing jobs and tax revenue to the city.”

Elliott Laws, Administrative Trustee, RACER Trust (left); Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley (right).
 

RACER Trust presents RACER’s Edge Awards to individuals and organizations in recognition of their successful redevelopment of former RACER properties or their support in helping RACER achieve its remediation and redevelopment mission in RACER communities.

In addition to the City of Flint and the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, this year’s winners were the American Center for Mobility in Ypsilanti Township, Mich.; M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Mich.; and RAV Properties in Syracuse, N.Y.

Tyler Rossmaessler, executive director of the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance (left); Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley (right), posing with their RACER’s Edge Awards.

Past winners of RACER’s Edge Awards include Ashley Capital (redevelopment in Livonia, Mich.); AUCH Construction (Pontiac, Mich.); Lear Corporation (Flint, Mich.), Sirmax (Anderson, Ind.) and Ameresco (Danville, Ill.)

RACER Trust's environmental cleanup and the redevelopment by buyers and end users of its former General Motors Corp. (GM) properties have had a significant, positive impact on the regional economies which were hurt by the GM bankruptcy. Investments by RACER Trust’s buyers and end users have generated annual, recurring impacts of more than 59,600 jobs, $4.5 billion in labor income and $16.4 billion in regional economic output, creating new opportunities and revenue for communities.

About RACER Trust: The Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response (RACER) Trust was created in March 2011 by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to clean up and position for redevelopment the properties abandoned by General Motors Corp. in its 2009 bankruptcy. At its effective date, RACER Trust’s real property portfolio consisted of 336 tax parcels; 34 million square feet in 167 buildings; and 6,776 acres of land at 83 locations in 14 states. When it was formed, RACER was one of the largest holders of industrial properties in the United States, and the largest environmental response trust in U.S. history. Since then, RACER has completed more than 90 property sales and achieved a no further action status or similar regulatory closure for more than 50 components of cleanups. Investments by RACER Trust’s buyers and end users have generated annual, recurring impacts of more than 59,600 permanent FTEs, $4.5 billion in labor income and $16.4 billion in regional economic output, creating new opportunities and revenue for RACER’s communities. For more information, please visit racertrust.org.

About Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance: The Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, a division of the Flint & Genesee Group, is the lead economic development organization for Flint and Genesee County. To build a more vibrant local economy, the Economic Alliance provides tools, resources, and guidance to local companies of all sizes and stages to support their growth. The division also promotes available sites, workforce, and unique assets to attract growth-oriented businesses to Genesee County. For more information, visit DevelopFlintandGenesee.org, and check us out on Facebook and LinkedIn.